Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Shares Sold by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank lowered its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,304,000 after acquiring an additional 251,361 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 67.2% in the fourth quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 8,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.8% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 508,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,384,000 after buying an additional 23,445 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 197.5% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after buying an additional 7,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 85,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,461,000 after buying an additional 3,553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $214.00 to $210.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $242.00 price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.44.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MMC stock opened at $232.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $113.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.79. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.17 and a 1-year high of $241.84.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.12. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 16.60%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.815 dividend. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.80%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Nicholas Mark Studer sold 49,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.16, for a total value of $11,367,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,520,202.64. This trade represents a 63.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy Mills sold 1,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.97, for a total value of $309,455.49. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,817.31. This trade represents a 31.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,828 shares of company stock valued at $13,350,279. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.